On Tuesday night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said CNN’s Lou Dobbs is promoting the “off-the-deep-end, wing-nut, racist conspiracy theory” that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. Maddow’s slam came in response to Dobbs having called her a “tea-bagging queen” earlier that day on his radio show. In that same segment, Dobbs also called Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, another critic, “intellectually challenged.”

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From that same platform, Dobbs had previously described critics of his birth certificate coverage as “limp-minded, lily-livered lefties.” Jon Stewart had blasted Dobbs the night before on “The Daily Show.” There, Stewart pointed out that while Dobbs was away, a guest host had debunked the “birther” theory. Stewart posed the question, "Do you even watch CNN?"

But there were more fireworks on Tuesday, as Fox News host Glenn Beck ignited a controversy by calling Obama “a racist,” while claiming that the president has a “deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” (Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade quickly questioned the factual basis of that statement given that Obama’s top advisers are white).

About 24 hours later, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” crew was taking shots at Beck on the air, with Donny Deutsch reading a list of Beck’s advertisers on Wednesday afternoon, and encouraging viewers to reach out to them over the host’s “disgusting” comments. Chris Matthews kicked off “Hardball” with a discussion of Beck’s remarks. And NBC political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd blasted the Fox News host on his “First Read” blog.

“What's most amazing about this episode is that what Beck said isn't a fireable or even a SUSPENDABLE offense by his bosses,” Todd wrote. “There was a time when outrageous rants like this would actually cost the ranters their jobs. But not anymore; if anything, it's now encouraged.” Former CNN chairman Tom Johnson agreed that times have changed.

“It always was my policy (and that of Ted Turner) that anchors and reporters should not present their own personal opinions on the air,” Johnson told POLITICO in an email. “We did not permit Lou Dobbs or any anchor or correspondent to do that.”

Though executives may not be actively encouraging such talk, they at least seem to be turning a blind eye to the echo chamber infighting. CNN president Jon Klein told reporters Tuesday that the network has “no control over what [Dobbs] says on his radio show,” a platform where much of the ‘birther” talk has taken place — only to be followed-up later on the television show.

“It’s not a CNN radio program so he does what he does on the radio separate from what he does on our air,” Klein said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “So we ask you and anyone writing about this, to look at what he says on CNN. It’s the only thing we control.”